Feng Shui in Red
by cold hard garlic
Summary: The vilage of Yuhi has an exam. What is the meaning of staged battles for a shy lady who has a crush on her opponent? How about the Coughing Man of the Moonlight and his ANBU lover? AU, OCxOC.
1. Prologue in a Genin's bridge

**Feng Shui**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything… (Please forgive my crudeness.)**

**Prologue**

The trees wither and the rain springs anew.

I am alone in the bridge of my alma mater, enjoying the slugs that sheltered our campus's corridors, and the birds that relieved themselves on the nearby pillar.

It is a lonely five-thirty in the afternoon. Most of my classmates are gone, commuting or taking the school bus home.

There is a scent that hangs in the air, the smell of rain and night; a whiff of it can make the hardest of nicotine addicts quit, lure the worst insomniac to his slumber, and the best bomb sniffing canines faint.

I look ahead.

Foliage. Palm and narra on either side, the setting crimson sun above and the cirrus, nimbus and stratus clouds below.

I look behind.

Space. The war of our classrooms have gone on a ceasefire

This space, this line between the cafeteria and the classrooms, is an odorous hell on the left, mouthwatering earth on the right, and pure paradise and a remarkable sight in the middle.

I always go to this sanctuary when the fires go out, when the rain extinguishes the flame of secondary school… when I feel depressed; this is my only joy and consolation.

(end of chapter)

Hehe… that's my prologue. I know it sucks, but it's my first fic anyway. See ya.


	2. Naivete

**Feng Shui in Red**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything…but this story.**

Author's note: I'd made this chapter full of mushy drabbles about a certain part of the brutal exam.

The deathmatches… and the lineup with a devastating scheme.

**Find Another Way**

_Give me a reason why sacrifices have to be made._

_Why, Sandaime-sama?_

_Why, if there is another way for us to complete this mission?_

_Why, Sandaime Hokage, when many call you the Professor, the wise and caring ruler of Konoha?_

The night was beautiful, for once, in its lack of an eerie moon and a near-total absence of clouds.

Fires were lit in old lanterns that dated from the Shodai Hokage's period, and telescopes were set up to observe, to note the astronomical patterns scattered in the starry night, to view the crows so quick and mystical in their pursuit for shelter.

_Nothing has changed_, a ninja thought bitterly. _Ninjas still don't care about their feelings. Not once did any Kage launch a program to train Ninja to deal gently with their emotions.They always put it off, one Kage to the next. Ho. Mizu. Kaze. Nobody cares. Nobody…_

"Umino Iruka."

The Konoha shinobi blinked. He was already here.

Iruka bowed as he approached the wizened old Sarutobi, and cleared his throat.

The Hokage, working overtime as usual in his office, took his hands off his crystal ball and rested his elbows on his desk as he always does when listening.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka began. "About the Yuhi chuunin exam – "

The Sandaime signaled Iruka to pause. He furrowed his eyebrows and sighed.

"Yes, Iruka. I know how hard it is for them."

Sarutobi fondled the crystal ball gently with one hand.

"But they wanted it harsh. It is the code of ninja. We have no alternative but this strategy."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Iruka, but we have to."

Code of ninja.

Iruka knew it. He'd wasted his time here. How could he, a mere chuunin, change the long and ancient tradition of the code of shinobi? It has always been like this since the dawn of history, when warriors and chroniclers started writing their lives on scrolls and stones.

Nobody who had a brain cell would be that naïve to try to change it.

Iruka, defeated, bowed and turned to leave.

_That bastard,_ Iruka hissed to himself, almost in tears. _I thought he, the great monkey ninja who was better than the first two Hokage, would be wise and caring enough to find another way. But no…_

"Iruka, are you suggesting that we… find another way?"

Iruka turned around and saw the Sandaime smiling.

"Very well, then. Come here and I will give you a class S mission."

Iruka approached the table, heart pounding with excitement.

"Go to Yuhi village and get me a Genin named Sesaru…"

If Iruka had hissed to the Hokage before, he swore, he could have been fired.

So that's why that stupid code lasted so long…

The code to control one's emotions.

He had left his brain cells with Naruto, no?

The Sandaime soon concluded his short orientation.

"You need to bring him here before the exam, which is this coming Monday."

As Iruka turned to leave, he heard another reminder.

"After that, come here and we'll discuss the amendment of the code…"

(end of chapter)

**Note**

Please give me (constructive) criticisms. I need it as much as I need sleep. But please don't flame. I need flames as much as I need hell.


End file.
